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Breitbart News Defiant in Attacking Gabriel Sherman’s Mental State

It’s a story that you almost have to read in a pitch-black room, huddled under a blanket with a flashlight.

On Sunday night Breitbart News published a massive hit piece on New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, who is presently working on a book about FNC and its CEO Roger Ailes. The story appears under the byline “Capitol Confidential” and is mostly a chronicle of the seemingly contentious relationship between Sherman and FNC. But sprinkled throughout are several unsubstantiated “holy shit!”-level digs at Sherman.

One assertion is that Sherman’s book, previously scheduled to publish this past May, has had its release date pushed to next January because the publishing house found the copy inadequate. “In the book world, that’s not a good sign,” the story says. “Typically, it means the publisher deems the manuscript to be unacceptable.” The story makes the additional leap that “desperation is taking its toll on young Sherman’s mind,” as he searches for “new and juicier material.”

Aside from a separate, anonymously-sourced piece in Breitbart that alleges Sherman’s publisher “must be freaking out,” the claim is baseless. One person who works at the top levels of a national book publisher in D.C. told FishbowlDC that any number of reasons can lead to delaying a book’s release. “Most likely, the author missed the deadline,” he said. “That could mean a number of things but a writer needing more time is not uncommon (happens all the time). It could also mean that retailers have asked the publisher for a different date because of potential promotions that can help move the book.”

Asked about the claim and to explain the “Capitol Confidential” byline, Breitbart News provided a statement to FishbowlDC… “Capitol Confidential is exactly that–confidential. Many different people, including combinations of sources and authors known to us, write under Capitol Confidential. Also, the fact that Random House pushed back the date speaks for itself.”

Another claim in Breitbart‘s piece is that Sherman has “obviously low self-esteem,” based on a tweet he sent while visiting London.

From the story:

[Sherman] wrote, possibly providing a glimpse into his own soul, “Hackney: ‘A horse suitable for ordinary riding or driving.’ A hack: ‘One that works for hire.’” In other words, a hack writer calling attention to his own hackery. It would seem that the low-grade reality of Sherman’s journalist hit-man profession is starting to seriously corrode his psyche. Why else would Sherman bring up the subject of hack-work?

We can further evaluate Sherman’s obviously low self-esteem some other time…

This particular filing from “Capitol Confidential” was apparently written by a shrink.